1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an on-vehicle emergency notification device that notifies about the occurrence of an emergency event, such as a vehicle accident or collision, from a vehicle to a notification center.
2. Description of Related Art
A device is proposed that captures and records the images around a vehicle during traveling, such as the device described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 7-304473 (JP 7-304473 A), for use in analyzing the cause of a vehicle accident or collision. After an accident, this device selectively records the image data, generated in the direction of the impact force at a collision time, to reduce the required memory capacity. In addition, this device monitors the state of the battery mounted on a vehicle and, when the battery power is sufficient, converts recording data into the compressed form for recording on a recording medium. On the other hand, when the power is not sufficient for converting data to the compressed form, this device records data, to which a high priority is given in advance, in the uncompressed, usual form. The on-vehicle emergency notification device described above sends data, recorded and held in this manner, to the notification center.
In addition to the image data described above, there are several pieces of important information, such as a voice call, that the on-vehicle emergency notification device must notify at the time of an emergency event such as a vehicle accident or collision. Therefore, depending upon the state of the battery mounted on the vehicle, there is a possibility that neither the situation can be explained nor can the information be exchanged via a voice call.